


Doctor “Duty of Care”

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant until after face the raven, Dorks in Love, Everybody Lives (In the End), F/M, Fluff, HAHA JACK IS EVIL, Hurt/Comfort, I will ship Whouffaldi until the day I die and stay dead, Loosely connected over arching plot, One Shot Collection, [insert actual tags that people care about], ah yes these are the two dorks I chose to obsess over, alternate heaven sent/hell bent, because we all know that no one can FUCKING STAY DEAD, more fluff then angst, not really - Freeform, oh fuck it, one shots, the hybrid is someone else, the hybrid isn’t even the main part of the story, the hybrid plot kinda fucked itself up, well kinda, whouffaldi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-24 01:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18561565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Even the Doctor has his forms of “as you wish”. “You were fantastic.” “Rose Ty-lah.” “You were brilliant.” “Come along, Ponds!” “No, you don’t.” Even his “Duty of Care” was an “as you wish.”———A series of Whouffaldi one shots during Series 9 with a loosely connected plot.





	1. Doctor “Doc”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara and the Doctor have a talk. Right after the events of “The Witches Familiar”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor realises he will die right after the events of “Last Christmas” and doesn’t visit Clara. Missy interferes a tad too late, causing Clara to have been abandoned for months.

The plains of Skaro seemed bland and deserted outside of that main city. It looked very different from being upside-down from when she was with Missy, and Clara could have sworn it wasn’t this warm out before.

Clara slipped off her black leather jacket, tying it around her waist like when she did in her edgy teenage years, sighing as she looked up at her old friend.

“Doctor?”

“Yes, Clara?”

“Are we going back to traveling after this?”

Wrong move. Good job, Clara, the young woman thought.

It had been seven months since she last saw this daft old bloody man. Seven goddamn months. During her free time, she would help out at UNIT as a replacement, but it was nothing compared to having The Doctor.

He stared down at her small figure, his aggressive attack eyebrows seeming crosser than ever, filled with worry.

“Together, I mean,” she added hopefully.

The Doctor turned around back towards his TARDIS, not daring to answer while their eyes met. “It’s up to you.”

She brushed back a lock of hair over her ear as she followed him inside.

His back was still turned away from her as she spoke her answer: “I’ve already given you my answer. Christmas, remember? You were the one who left me after that. After you practically proposed for me to come back with you.”

The Doctor turned around. “Well, I was dying!”

“And lucky enough for you, Missy came to find me!” Clara snapped back at him.

“The same Missy who trapped you in a Dalek and tried to convince me to kill you!” replied the Doctor.

Clara opened her mouth in hopes of a retort the come out. Nothing came.

“I have a Duty of Care, Clara Oswald,” he said, his magnificent blue eyes locking into her deep, chocolate brown pair. “Whatever it takes to keep you from harm.”

Why did he care so much? Why her? He stuck around for this long - longer than the majority of his companions. About...a thousand years for him, now? Well, including the time she convinced him to steal his TARDIS, it’s been his entire lifespan. Did he come back for anyone else when they left? Maybe that ‘Amelia’ he saw before he regenerated. Maybe that Bad Wolf Girl was once a companion.

Why was she the one he chose?

He was impossible.

“Why are you asking me again?” she spoke her thoughts.

No answer.

“Oh, come on! I deserve an answer! If you’re not gonna explain what that confession dial is, then at least explain this!”

“Why do you like travelling?” He asked simply.

“I asked you first,” retorted Clara.

“Your answer will my back up argument,” he stated with extra emphasis on the ‘will’.

Clara chuckled, “When were you a politician?”

“November, 22, 175–” Clara smiled. “Oh, shut up, and answer my question.”

Clara took a deep breath in before speaking. “When you were a child - a kid, whatever you Time Lords call it - did you ever look up at that orange sky you’ve told me about and wonder what’s out there? Maybe… Try to reach up and see if you could touch the stars?” The Doctor stayed silent. “I’ve seen it now. I know what is out there. We are not alone in this universe. There’s life beyond us. It’s wonderful.”

“And it’s terrible,” the Doctor cut in.

“All good things come at a cost.”

“Who taught you that?”

“Who do you think?”

No answer. He knew that she was talking about him.

Clara closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “Doctor, what I’m trying to say here is that I can’t let go. Not like this.”

“I know,” he responded quietly, almost silently.

He turned back around to lean forward against the console. Clara reached from behind and hugged him, nuzzling into his shoulder.

“You’ll be here to save me if anything happens, right?” she asked, “Doctor ‘Duty of Care’?”

“Summer doesn’t last forever, my Clara,” The Doctor replied. Clara frowned. “Unless you’re a time traveller.”

She smiled, and after a few moments later she asked, “Are you a hugging person now, Doctor?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Then why are you letting me hug you?”

The Doctor paused and let Clara continue.

“The Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds. The Valeyard is letting a 5’2” brunette with an attitude who’s apparently too cocky for her own good hug you.”

He turned his head over his shoulder to see his favorite tiny human look up at him with a wide smile on her face. “But I will hug you.”

She smiled even wider, and mumbling quietly into his shoulder she said, “Doctor Doc.”

“What was that?”

“Doctor “Duty of Care”? Doctor Doc for short,” she answered simply. “Unless you want to be Doctor DC. The ‘o’ is silent.”

He chuckled. “Oh, Clara Oswald, I’ve missed you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated <3


	2. Into Slumber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara is definitely a workaholic, so much that she prioritises it over her own health. The Doctor interferes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place pre-“Under the Lake” and post-“The Witch’s Familiar”.

Oh, why did she choose to pursue an educational career? Why couldn’t she just stay working for the Maitlands? Clara sighed and she returned from the kitchen in her flat with highly caffeinated coffee. She had been sick for the past week and had been making up her time with the assignments she had to grade.

Her living room was a mess; seven very messy piles of paper laid around the floor. Clara couldn’t think. The fact that nothing was situated didn’t help the anxiety she had at the moment, and the fact that she hasn’t slept in a few days didn’t help the problem.

She knew her hair was a mess, she hadn’t taken a shower in Stars know when, and the fact that she had been wearing the same nightie for days. She felt disgusted with herself, but she knew that work was her priority.

She heard a whooshing noise and assumed it was the wind blowing through curtains, not willing to rise from her work.

That it until she heard a familiar voice.

The voice came from the hallway in that old scottish accent she adored so dearly. But now was not the time for an out of the world vacation. 

“Y’know, there’s this planet at the edge of the universe I just visited. Absolutely beautiful! And you know I don’t just throw the word around.”

The Doctor scanned the room, locking eyes with his young companion. “You look different,” he finally said, analyzing her facial expression, her physical state, the mess her living room was, and especially the coffee in her hand, plus the pile of energy drink cans behind her. “Your face isn’t all coloured in. What’s the occasion?”

“There isn’t an occasion,” Clara snapped, perhaps too harsher then she should have. “It’s three in the morning and I have to finish grading these bloody papers.”

He paused and she continued her work.

“How much sleep have you been running off of, Clara?”

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, as if would help her recall the past couple of days. “I dunno… maybe an hour or two over three days? Four?”

Her friend motioned his hand down the hallway to her bed. “You need sleep. A twenty-nine-year-old woman should get at least a seven hour sleep every night.”

“I’m fine,” replied the woman. “I don’t need that much sleep.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I have work.”

“And I have a time travelling spaceship!” said her friend, “How about you get some sleep on the TARDIS and I’ll go into orbit in some distant planet halfway across the universe. I can drop you back off here.”

Clara paused, locking her beautiful large brown eyes onto the Doctor’s steel-like icey stare.

“Fine.” She reluctantly stood up from her spot, following her madman into the TARDIS that was parked in her room. 

Meandering close behind the Time Lord, the two traveled through the numerous hallways and crevices of the TARDIS.

The Doctor gave a worried look at his petite companion. Both her physical and mental state were a mess. Dark spots underneath her eyes swelled as her eyelids lazily drooped further and further, shooting open at sudden times just to droop down again. Her back bent forward as she stumbled behind him, her posture unlike her usual proud self.

As they bent around a stairwell to one of the lower floors, Clara misplaced her foot and tumbled into the Doctor. Luckily enough for the both of them, he didn’t fall and instead caught her.

“That’s it. I’m carrying you.”

Clara lazily opened her eyes again to reply, “Doctor, you don’t have to — ”

She was cut off by his grip, picking her up bridal style. The position shocked her at first, but she eventually got used to it for the next few minutes of travel.

When they finally landed in her bedroom she used on the TARDIS, he sighed in relief. “Thank Rassilon you’re already in your nightie.”

“I don’t have to be,” she murmured under her own breath.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Nothing. Now put me to bed, you daft old man.”

He laid the woman down underneath the sheets and covers, brushing his hand through her hair softly before heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

The Doctor paused in his tracks. “Uh, fixing the… radio!”

“Do you have to do it now?”

“What else would I be doing?”

“Staying with me. Keeping me company. At least until I fall asleep,” replied Clara.

The Doctor smiled. “Alright, Clara Oswald. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

In just under a minute, he returned with a chair and an acoustic guitar.

“What’s that for?” she asked.

“Duty of Care, Clara Oswald,” the Time Lord replied, “Now get some sleep.”

Smiling, he began to play Clara’s theme on the guitar, watching as the beautiful woman drift off into her slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated <3


End file.
